


Rule No. 1

by stella_polaris



Category: The Almighty Johnsons
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-08-11
Updated: 2013-08-11
Packaged: 2017-12-23 03:48:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,639
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/921639
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/stella_polaris/pseuds/stella_polaris
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>There is something about the way that Colin looks at Dawn that Anders doesn’t like. And with ‘doesn’t like’ he means he absolutely hates it.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Rule No. 1

**Author's Note:**

> Don't ask me what this is. I don't even ship Dawnders but I couldn't get this out of my head after the last episode. I guess I ship Dawn and Anders very much in a platonic way and I hope something will change in their relationship concerning that.

There is something about the way that Colin looks at Dawn that Anders doesn’t like. And with ‘doesn’t like’ he means he absolutely hates it. It’s not even that he looks at her like he looks at most women, only seeing them as a piece of meat. No, he actually realizes that Dawn has brilliant ideas. And that makes it even creepier.

When Anders has agreed to help Colin with the mayoral campaign… he hasn’t thought it would turn into such a serious affair. Anders has honestly planned to go with some half-arsed attempts. Enough so that Colin won’t have any reason to be mad at him or his family, but not in the way that actually makes him a legit candidate for the whole mayor thing.

But Anders hasn’t counted on Dawn’s enthusiasm about the campaign. In all the years they’ve worked together, she hasn’t mentioned once that she’s interested in politics. But come to think of it, she might have mentioned it and he wasn’t listening… He feels a tiny bit bad for knowing so little about her.

Anders also has no clue what led him to promise her to do his best. And why the hell he feels like he needs to keep that promise. Dawn should be used to him not keeping his promises. But still, this time it feels like he cannot do that to her.

And all that doesn’t change the fact that you can only trust Colin as far as you can throw him. Colin is bad news. Anders has thought he would be able to handle him and his tricks… but this is proving to become difficult. Especially with Dawn becoming as involved as she is. Her ideas are so brilliant that even Colin seems genuinely impressed… and that’s worrying.

Mortals getting involved in god shit can only end badly. And this isn’t just Colin running for mayor, this is going to turn into god shit at some point. Colin Gundersen doesn’t just decide to run for mayor one day without a superior motive.

And Dawn has already been involved in enough god shit to last a lifetime, even if she doesn’t remember anything about it. She has nearly died. Twice. And the fact that Ty’s still in love with her seems to make her the perfect victim for any payback Colin might be planning.

While Anders has told Colin to leave his family alone, he doubts that extends to his assistant who happens to be his brother’s ex-girlfriend (again, without her even remembering that part). The same brother Colin still has a score to settle with.

In conclusion, it’s all extremely fucked up and by the time Anders has reached that conclusion he has managed to give himself a headache from all the thinking. He closes his eyes and pinches the bridge of his nose. He has to talk to Dawn about Colin… but what can he actually tell her?

 _‘So Colin thinks Ty has killed his daughter and wants revenge and because you’re Ty’s ex although you don’t remember any of that, it brings you into a dangerous position. And Colin is actually Loki the fucking trickster god and a psycho. Rule number one: You should never ever trust him’_? Probably not…

“Dawn?” he calls over to where his assistant is sitting at her desk, no doubt working hard on the policies for Colin’s campaign.

She doesn’t even look up as she answers. “Yes, Anders?”

“Come here for a moment, I need to talk to you… oh, and be a darling and bring me some aspirin,” Anders says.

He hears Dawn shuffle through her papers and then open and close a drawer before she comes over to his part of the office. “Thanks,” he mumbles as she hands him one of those dissolving pills and pops it into a glass of water.

Dawn sits down on the chair in front of his desk, a notepad and pen in hand. Typically Dawn, always thinking of everything. Even when he has enough pens on his own desk if he wanted to talk about work now. “So? What do you wanna talk about?” she asks.

“This is gonna sound weird…” Anders starts and then takes a sip of the drink with the painkillers, giving himself more time to think.

“Weirder than usual?” Dawn replies and there’s a tiny smile on her lips.

Anders shrugs. “Maybe? Now… how do I say this…” Sometimes it’s ridiculous how bad he actually is at finding the right words, given that he’s the god of fucking poetry. Dawn looks at him expectantly when he continues. “I just wanted to… warn you. Yeah, I guess you could say it like that.”

“ _Warn_ me?” Dawn echoes and she looks confused.

Anders nods. “It’s about Colin. I know he can be charming and all that when he wants to be… but whatever he says or does, don’t trust him.”

Dawn frowns at him. “And you say this because…? I mean, he’s our client. Shouldn’t we be supporting him in every possible way?”

 _And here it comes_ , Anders thinks, _she thinks you’re not being serious_. “Colin isn’t like our other clients. We go back, he and my family. And we’re not exactly friends.”

Dawn’s frown deepens even more. “You two seem friendly enough with each other. Why do we work with him then?”

“You know we barely have any clients at the moment. We need jobs and this is the best job we’ve had in ages!” – _and it has to work out because I’ve never seen you so happy and motivated since your first workday here with me_ – “Look, I know this doesn’t make a lot of sense for you. All I’m asking is that you don’t buy into his flattery. Colin doesn’t do anything for anyone but himself. Be careful around him.”

At that, Dawn smiles and seems actually amused.

“What?” Anders asks, not knowing what’s supposed to be funny.

“You’re worried about me. You’re actually worried about me. This is kinda cute,” Dawn explains, still smiling.

“Oh, shut up. I’m not,” Anders retorts and rolls his eyes, “I’m just saying: Don’t trust Colin.” He is actually worried about Dawn but does she have to know that? No, she doesn’t.

“Because you’re worried about me,” Dawn concludes, still with that amused smile.

Anders throws up his hands in defeat. “Fine, whatever you say. Listen to me or don’t. But don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

“Now you’re acting like a stubborn child, Anders,” Dawn says and she doesn’t care one bit about the scandalized look that earns her and continues talking, “I don’t know what’s happened between your family and Colin that makes you think he could involve me in one way or another… but I’ll keep in mind what you said.”

“Promise me,” Anders says and the serious tone seems to startle Dawn.

“What?”

“I promised you this wasn’t a joke and that I wouldn’t fuck it up” – he’s actually said he’d give it his best shot which is not exactly a promise but he hopes Dawn hasn’t noticed that – “So now you promise me that you’ll be careful when it comes to Colin.”

“I… okay, I promise I’ll be careful.”

Dawn seems so confused but there’s no way he can explain this to her properly and he just hopes being careful will be enough. “Good.” Anders nods.

“Look, Anders. I’m a big girl and I can look after myself. I know how to deal with rich arseholes like Colin who think they’re god’s gift to the world. You can stop acting out of character now, you’re starting to creep me out,” Dawn says.

Anders knows she doesn’t mean this in a harsh way. But still… if him being concerned about her is acting out of character, he wonders if he really is such a bad boss usually. So bad that she doesn’t seem to believe he’s serious now.

“Why is it that you usually complain about me all the time and when I actually care, you think it’s all a joke?” He doesn’t want to say it like that. He knows he has no right to, really, but somehow he can’t keep the hurt tone out of his voice.

But Dawn doesn’t notice. Or if she does she doesn’t mention it. Instead she gets up and smiles at him calmly. “Ah, but that’s not what I said. You being your usual annoying self is what I’m used to. I know you care, you just suck at showing it,” she says while she walks back towards her desk, “Actually, if I’m allowed to state a theory… I’d say you care about me more than about most other people. Your family excluded, of course.”

Anders isn’t sure what to reply to that. He has half a mind to deny everything what Dawn has just said but well… she does have point there. Of course he cares about her in a way. He’s known her for so long, how couldn’t he? He never knew, however, that she was so perceptive. Or is he actually so easy to read? No, that can’t be it. Even his brothers always seem to get his intentions wrong. But then, to put it nicely, perception isn’t exactly a trait that runs in the family.

Before Anders has made up his mind about what to answer, Dawn speaks up again. “How about lunch?” she says and it sounds like a peace offering for going too far and saying something too personal.

“Excellent idea,” Anders replies enthusiastically, glad for the change of topic, “But I get to pick where we go and it’s not sandwiches again!”

He’s already halfway on his way out the door by the time Dawn has shut down her computer. She chuckles as she grabs her purse and joins him. “Alright then. No sandwiches.”

**Author's Note:**

> Btw, the alternative title was "No Sandwiches" xD


End file.
